nishment already, Puss."

"They deserve it."

"I--I scared them stiff when I shot."

"Poor girlie, and you were as badly scared yourself. My brave Glory!"

"Don't praise me, Kitty. I'm an awful coward. My teeth are chattering
yet."

"And you are trembling as if you had the ague. Are you sure you're not
hurt? I thought I heard something fall."

"The gun kicked and knocked me over," Gloriana admitted. "That is what
gave the boys a chance to scramble into the closet. I didn't know it
was Billiard and Toady then, because the bullet splintered the lamp
chimney and I couldn't see real well."

"But you locked them in."

"Oh, that was easy! They were holding the door shut with all their
might, and the only thing left to do was to turn the key in the lock.
I am so thankful it was only a prank!"

"So am I," Tabitha admitted grudgingly. "But I can't say I relish that
class of pranks."

"Give them another chance, Tabitha. I think they really are trying to
be good."

"Well, I'll--see. We'll forget all about it now and go to sleep.
Morning can't be very far off."

CHAPTER VII

TOADY AND THE CASTOR BEANS

But when morning dawned, Gloriana lay flushed and feverish upon her
pillow, her head throbbing until she could scarcely open her eyes.
Tabitha was alarmed, and between her worry over the sick girl lying in
their darkened room, and her ministrations to croupy Janie, who had
caught cold sleeping in the night air on the mountain top, the poor
housekeeper was so nearly distracted that she had little time to devote
to the rest of her large family, and they wandered about the premises
like so many disconsolate chicks who had lost their mother. It was an
ideal time to get into mischief, and yet something restrained them.

The girls, it seemed, had slept through all the racket of the previous
night, and were not aware that anything out of the ordinary had
occurred, but they could not understand the tense atmosphere; and when
Mercedes heroically tried to fill Tabitha's place the other members of
the brood resented her authority, frankly found fault with her badly
cooked oatmeal and unsalted potatoes, and insulted her attempts at
housekeeping in such a heartless, unfeeling manner that she finally
dissolved in tears and refused to do anything further toward their
comfort. Susie and Inez quarreled over the dishes and had the sulks
all day. The boys, still fearful of the consequences of their latest
prank,